It is often desirable to decorate an article for reasons of self-expression, brand identification or aesthetics and/or to label the article with information of the type including, but not limited to, price, size, a designation of source, instructions for use and care, etc. For certain articles, such decoration and/or labeling may be accomplished by printing or otherwise transferring such subject matter directly onto the article. However, many articles are not well-suited for direct printing or imaging. Another known method of applying a fabric label to an article is by sewing or stitching. However, sewing of fabric labels is costly and time consuming as it requires an additional labor component to complete the affixing of the label to the article. As another alternative, heat transfer methods may also be used, where a label is provided with a heat softenable adhesive, which upon application of heat causes the adhesive to soften and bond the label to the article.
Heat-transfer label assemblies are well known and widely used in the art. Heat-transfer label assemblies are typically manufactured as a continuous roll and commonly include a label-carrying continuous web (also commonly referred to simply as a carrier web), such as a polyethylene coated paper sheet, a release layer (also commonly referred to as a release mechanism or release sheet), such as a wax or silicone release layer, affixed onto a surface of the carrier web and a heat-transfer label (also commonly referred to simply as a label), which is disposed on the release layer. The heat-transfer label typically includes a protective layer affixed onto the release layer, an ink design layer placed onto the protective layer and an adhesive layer disposed over the ink design layer. Heat transfer assemblies can be costly and are typically designed for large single-print jobs where a single type of label may be applied hundreds or thousands of times in order to reduce the overall cost of the label production.
Pressure sensitive adhesive is frequently used in prior art labeling, particularly with respect to the labeling of paper, or cardboard boxes, or other containers having a surface to which typical pressure sensitive adhesives successfully adhere. However, the use of pressure sensitive adhesives typically does not produce satisfactory results in connection with the labeling of garment pieces, because the pressure sensitive adhesives do not adhere sufficiently strongly to the garment pieces in order to perform the intended function of the labeling associated with garments. Such labeling must be capable of successfully withstanding repeated home or commercial laundering or dry cleaning.
What is needed therefore is an application system to provide the aesthetic attributes of a sewn or stitched label or embellishment without the cost of application associated with prior art methodologies. The current application introduces a novel approach to adhering woven and other brand identification labels to articles, more particularly apparel items such as clothing, garments or related accessories. The approach, as discussed below, utilizes an adhesive system to adhere a woven label to a fabric garment by a frame element, with or without the use of heat.